Invention Of The Meteorological Instruments

The barometer -- The thermometer -- Instruments for measuring humidity -- The rain gauge and the atmometer -- The windvane and the anemometer -- The measurement of the duration of sunshine -- Early meteorographs -- Upper winds and the height and motion of clouds -- Upper-air soundings without telemetry -- Telemeteorography and the radiosonde -- Epilogue.

This history of the thermometer includes controversy about its invention, the story of different scales, Fahrenheit and centigrade, and the history of the gradual scientific then popular understanding of the concept of temperature. Not until 1800 did people interested in thermometers begin to see clearly what they were measuring, and the impetus for improving thermometry came largely from study of the weather—the liquid-in-glass thermometer became the meteorologist's instrument before that of the chemist or physicist. This excellent introductory study follows the development of indicating and recording thermometers until recent times, emphasizing meteorological applications.

Traces the development of the barometer as a scientific instrument from the experiments and controversies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the precision instruments of today.

First published in 1964, it is the acknowledged authority on the subject of barometers and is the first and only complete world history of the mercury, aneroid and all other barometers, including barographs.

The objectives of the American Meteorological Society are "the development and dissemination of knowledge of meteorology in all its phases and applications, and the advancement of its professional ideals." The organization of the Society took place in affiliation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Saint Louis, Missouri, December 29, 1919, and its incorporation, at Washington, D. C., January 21, 1920. The work of the Society is carried on by the Bulletin, the Journal, and Meteorological Monographs, by papers and discussions at meetings of the Society, through the offices of the Secretary and the Executive Secretary, and by correspondence. All of the Americas are represented in the membership of the Society as well as many foreign countries.